An Iredell County sheriff’s deputy arrested two West Iredell High School students on drug charges this week after finding them in a stall together in the boys’ bathroom.

Zachary Taylor Hartness, 18, and Ryan Lee McCrary, 17, both of Statesville, were each charged with possession with intent to sell/deliver marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. They were suspended from school.

A sheriff’s deputy who is a resource officer was monitoring students at lunch when he made a routine check of a bathroom and saw two males standing in the same stall with the door open, Sheriff Phil Redmond said.

One of the students immediately turned away from the officer while concealing something in his hand. When the officer ordered the student to hand over the substance, the deputy was given a clear plastic baggie containing three smaller bags of what appeared to be marijuana individually packaged for sale, Redmond said.

The deputy took both students to the guidance office and called for an administrator.